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Lix Main / Re: Replay Insert Mode for Lix (like NeoLemmix's "blue R")
« on: January 12, 2023, 11:59:28 PM »
I've been wondering about "hanging assignments" that can result from inserting assignments into a replay that now make future assignments already in the replay fail.
Consider the example:
Phyu 59: Lem 5 gets a basher.
Phyu 60: Lem 6 gets a builder.
If you go back and insert at phyu 59: Lem 6 gets a builder, then depending on whether we're using Lix or Neolemmix we get different behaviors.
In NeoLemmix the previous assignment to Lem 5 at frame 59 is silently overwritten and won't happen anymore. Could have disastrous effects on the rest of the replay; now any other assignments that were dependent on that one will be in unhelpful locations or fail for one reason or another. I find myself manually shuffling through the frames when using replay-insert to ensure I don't accidentally overwrite something, which seems annoying. Should the player have to manage this? Can the game notify the player that an overwrite has occurred with a sound or visual cue? Should the game prevent the overwrite altogether? If so, can the player force the overwrite anyway with repeated attempts?
In Lix, which allows multiple assignments on the same phyu, both assignments at phyu 59 will succeed, and because of the queuing mechanic for builders, Lix 6 will now use two builder skills.
There are several ways we could end up with "hanging" assignments. Due to inserting assignments earlier in the replay, we could end up attempting to give permanent skills to Lems that already have them, try assigning skills to Lems that are no longer in the level, or try assigning skills to Lems that can't use them because they are busy doing something else. These seem benign, but one potentially troubling "hanging" assignment comes from trying to assign skills when we don't have any more of that skill available in the skill panel. If you only have 5 platformers available for the whole level and have assigned them all, then go back and insert platformer assignments before they have been "used," then the future assignments will now fail. Again, should the player have to keep track of this, or is it better to have the game do it for us? If there is a "hanging" assignment at a past section in the replay, should the game remove it or leave it there?
Consider the example:
Phyu 59: Lem 5 gets a basher.
Phyu 60: Lem 6 gets a builder.
If you go back and insert at phyu 59: Lem 6 gets a builder, then depending on whether we're using Lix or Neolemmix we get different behaviors.
In NeoLemmix the previous assignment to Lem 5 at frame 59 is silently overwritten and won't happen anymore. Could have disastrous effects on the rest of the replay; now any other assignments that were dependent on that one will be in unhelpful locations or fail for one reason or another. I find myself manually shuffling through the frames when using replay-insert to ensure I don't accidentally overwrite something, which seems annoying. Should the player have to manage this? Can the game notify the player that an overwrite has occurred with a sound or visual cue? Should the game prevent the overwrite altogether? If so, can the player force the overwrite anyway with repeated attempts?
In Lix, which allows multiple assignments on the same phyu, both assignments at phyu 59 will succeed, and because of the queuing mechanic for builders, Lix 6 will now use two builder skills.
There are several ways we could end up with "hanging" assignments. Due to inserting assignments earlier in the replay, we could end up attempting to give permanent skills to Lems that already have them, try assigning skills to Lems that are no longer in the level, or try assigning skills to Lems that can't use them because they are busy doing something else. These seem benign, but one potentially troubling "hanging" assignment comes from trying to assign skills when we don't have any more of that skill available in the skill panel. If you only have 5 platformers available for the whole level and have assigned them all, then go back and insert platformer assignments before they have been "used," then the future assignments will now fail. Again, should the player have to keep track of this, or is it better to have the game do it for us? If there is a "hanging" assignment at a past section in the replay, should the game remove it or leave it there?
